FAN’S VIEW: 24/25 – No.32: LUTON AT HOME

OXFORD UNITED 3 LUTON TOWN 2

Every lengthy unbeaten run a football club has comes to an end sometime. The same goes for winless streaks. I’ve prepared myself for a defeat under Gary Rowett. I’ll be annoyed but know I’ll have to accept it because at some stage it will come. The question is when?

We went into this game joint top of the form table. At the other end of the spectrum Luton have not picked up a point in their last 11 away games.

I said in the previous FV that these stats made me very worried that this would be the day when these runs came to an end. On the evidence of the first half it looked very much like that would be the case.

I’m one of those who thought the Blackburn win was our best performance of the season but looking at their current form may have to marginally downgrade how good I thought we were. Perhaps they weren’t as hard a nut to crack as we’d expected. Following their Tuesday night 2-0 home defeat to Coventry their record over the last eight league games reads one win, two draws and five losses. Before the season is out we’ll host top sides on top form. Sheffield United and Leeds both visit in April.

There’s little doubt though that our first half display was the worst so far under Rowett. Little was clicking. Passes were going astray. Our shape, which has been very good recently, wasn’t there. Luton were finding space which we hadn’t been affording to most teams and to be fair to them were knocking the ball around neatly as well as playing their long ball more physical game. They were confident and looked anything but a bottom of the table outfit. Their fans were behind them and as far as I could tell never turned on the team even when they twice lost the lead and eventually the game. No one was leaving early but the Hatters were never out of it and did put pressure on us in the additional six minutes at the end.

We went behind in the 11^th minute. Matt Phillips, starting instead of Ruben Rodrigues who had “felt something” against Blackburn, gave away a silly free-kick, sliding in having got wrong side of his man. Perhaps if we’d had our correct shape and positional sense he would have been facing the man he fouled. We didn’t deal with the dead ball. Michal Helik, running backwards, got a head on it but the ball didn’t really go anywhere. Greg Leigh then stretched out at it but only sent it to the edge of the area where Zak Nelson collected it. Nelson passed to Mark McGuinness who kept it well when he looked like he might lose possession before sliding it with the outside of his right foot to Tom Krauss. The German took the goal clinically, hitting it into the side netting inside the goal.

I’d thought that Leigh had time to take a step to the ball thus enabling him to give it a proper whack away and Siriki Dembele followed the ball and didn’t mark the man.

Before our equaliser just 11 minutes later we had a very good penalty claim. For most of the half our two biggest threats were our wide men, Dembele and Przemyslaw Placheta. They were mostly crowded out but PP was only prevented from getting in on goal when an arm came out across him as he squeezed between two defenders who ensured there was a tangle of legs. Referee Steven Martin, whose first ever Blue Square Premier game was our 1-0 home defeat to Weymouth in 2008, wasn’t interested. Still no penalty awarded to the Yellows this season.

Our leveller was a goal of high merit and came about when we’d had a spell of keeping the ball for a few minutes with players operating out of their natural positions. At times both wingers were on the left. Helik had turned into a centre forward, showing no intention of retreating when we were playing the ball backwards with Peter Kioso tucked in as a centre-half. It wasn’t that we were “all over the place.” This was very much intentional. We put together a few lengthy sequences of passes and every time Luton got the ball away we just picked it up and built again. The majority of the outfield players were involved. Leigh and Cameron Brannagan, working well together on the left, saw a first time cross come in from the latter which was met on the volley by Helik. Thomas Kaminski made a desperate effort to keep it out but the hand he got to it wasn’t enough.

Luton fans will claim poor defending and, with the way they let Brannagan go, there’s a strong case for that but the play we had produced in the few minutes leading up to it was worthy of a goal.

That said, the way we had played overall up to then I wasn’t convinced that we’d go on to win and it only took four minutes for the visitors to regain the lead.

Another needless free-kick was given away. Dembele went through Mark McGuinness from behind. The Luton man was going nowhere. Our discipline was poor.

This was a low right footed kick delivered to the back post bent behind our defence. It looked like it was going out but after a bounce McGuinness managed to get his head on it from a very tight angle. Not only that but he got it over the goal-line before Jamie Cumming managed to pat the ball away. I thought it was close. For the referee and linesman it would have been difficult to tell for sure with the naked eye. Technology told us it was a goal.

Was this bad defending too? I’m no expert on where the defensive line should be set in such situations. There will be logical reasons where it will be situated. Deep or high? Space for the keeper to come and collect? Consideration of what the opposition have to offer? My thinking is that a defender has much more of a chance to get the ball away if he is facing the incoming head on but what do I know? Perhaps it is just the quality of the free-kick that deserves praise.

We didn’t reproduce that short spell before we equalised and I now just wanted to get to the break no further behind. Helik had to come across to block an Elijah Adebayo effort. He got 10 Premier League goals last season but has only scored five in the Championship so far in 24/25.

We improved in the second half and were finding Placheta more. A corner was won after he’d played a pass to the overlapping Kioso. Brannagan took it and Ciaron Brown met it with another volley to pull us level again. Poor defending? It was certainly determined attacking of the ball. That made him our joint-second league scorer with 4 goals.

The winner arrived in the 69^th minute. Another from a set piece, this one being a Will Vaulks long throw. A defender got his head on it but with all white shirts in the box we had players to pick up the “second ball”. Dembele sensibly gave it back to Vaulks who moved it on to Placheta. Facing his marker he also sensibly returned the ball to Vaulks who hit a peach of a high bending cross to the far post. An unmarked Leigh perfectly placed a low bullet of a header in for what proved to be the winner. He’d picked his spot making him also now joint-second leading scorer. That was poor marking. Perhaps that’s why Luton are so low down the league but much of their play is better than that. However if you can’t defend you are in trouble.

There was still a long time to go, over 20 minutes plus the added time of six more. We saw it out without too much panic although personally nerves were somewhat evident.

Just about all the stats indicated a very even game, which it was.

This win was achieved without the injured Elliott Moore, who still won’t be available on Saturday, Tyler Goodrham, who will, and our record signing Ole Romeny who was at least on the bench here.

I’m intrigued to know how the centre half positions are going to be filled between now and the end of the season. Seems we could be spoilt with the number of candidates when at one time it appeared we may struggle.

Everyone is almost raving about Helik and I’m in agreement that he is a great acquisition but I think he’s far from being infallible. There were a few mistakes here and I’d noted some in the Blackburn game too. In my original draft of the FV for that game I’d noted this but took it out because I thought after such a great win that would be construed as being too negative. Apparently Huddersfield fans have said the same about him but if he’s going to be a goal-scorer how can he not get a starting spot every time?

Alongside him is Brown. So dependable and no way should he be left out. Centre-half is his preferred position. He does a great job at left-back but now Leigh is justifying his place in that slot.

Rowett has said that Moore is not far away from being available. Almost unthinkable that a fit EM would be left out but the manager has said if you’ve got the shirt it is yours to keep until you lose it.

He’s also said “Ben Nelson at some point will potentially come back in” and “Jordan Thorniley has shown that when required, he’s ready to step up, and he’s champing at the bit to get more game time”

Then there’s Sam Long who can cover at centre-half and right-back.

Who would be a manager with so many decisions to be made? No wonder Stephan Negru has been allowed to return to Salford.

The two in front of the back four are now a settled Brannagan and Vaulks. So much good from the latter now with mistakes being much less frequent.

The only change to the previous starting line-up was Matt Phillips in for Ruben Rodrigues who wasn’t fit enough to start. We had better shape in the second period and Phillips was part of that, doing some excellent defensive work which is easy to overlook.

He was part of our first changes which were made just before our third goal. He was replaced by Alex Matos and Tom Bradshaw came on for Mark Harris. If anything our shape and closing down got even better with these fresh legs. Both looked lively. How long will Harris hold on to the starting berth up front with Bradshaw and Romeny around? Somehow though I can’t see him as an impact sub.

Hidde ter Avest arrived in the 80^th minute with Placheta departing. That made sense from a defensive and preservation point of view but clearly reduced the attacking threat should we need it again.

Our last two changes were made as we entered added time. RR and Sibley on for Brannagan and Dembele. It might have been those nerves dictating but I didn’t think these two did enough to help alleviate the pressure with their decision making. It is difficult though to tune in to a game immediately.

So now up to 14^th. An amazing achievement. There are now six teams with shorter odds than us for relegation but no way should we think it’s a done deal. The shortest odds you can get on Plymouth are 1/33 on. The Rooney effect continues. Five nil down at half time to Burnley. No new manager bounce there. I believe the locals wanted Steve Schumacher back not Miron Muslic.

No new manager bounce at Luton either. One point from two games under Matt Bloomfield.

I wonder which football club is still bouncing high on the back of a new appointment. We’ve already had more league wins this season under GR than we did under Des.

Oxon Senior Cup Quarter Final: Banbury United 0 Oxford United 6

As we were taking on Luton a youthful OUFC side was playing an also young Banbury United in this competition. I mention this because the highlights on You Tube have been watched 103k times as of Thursday evening. Most of the comments are from Indonesians. Marselino Ferdinan played and scored a couple of goals. The interest seems off the scale. He’s got about 4m social media followers. He played a handful of meaningless minutes at Exeter. Just think what might take off if he were to get into the first team. That clearly should only be on merit. He’s 20. He got a couple of goals against Banbury.